Dear Author: Romance Novel Reviews, Industry News, and Commentary

Comic Review: Solanin (2008)
Art & Story: Inio Asano
Publisher: VIZ Signature
Genre: Josei / humour / drama
Pages: 432
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1421523213 ISBN-13: 978-1421523217
Solanin is one of those rare comics that manage to something memorable out of a predictable story premise: a coming-of-age story revolving around the lives of twentysomething college graduates.
The heart of the 432-page comic are Tokyoites [...]

At the Popular Romance Studies: International Conference, organised by the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR), there was a brief discussion to explore this question: Are older under-represented in the romance genre? If so, why? Good questions.
The average age of heroine in U.S. romance novels is between 24-26 (and possibly younger in historical romance). And yet [...]

Story: Jamie S. Rich
Art: Joelle Jones
Publisher: Oni Press (5 page preview) or at Amazon
Release: 2006
A passing mention of Twelve Reasons Why I Love Her during a conversation about graphic novels caught attention of the romance reader in me, which prompted me to ask the friend what it was about.
He described it as “a Memento-like story [...]

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Earlier I sat here at desk, looking out to a window, thinking that it was great the vast expanse of the world is out there with its rich and varied cultures and peoples. If I had the money and the time again, I would travel for as long as possible [...]

Conversational Film Review: Silther (2007)
Genre: horror comedy
Reviewers: Jaili and Dionne Galace (a.k.a. Bam)
I asked Bam if she would do a conversational review with me. Without a blink, she agreed. She even did an awesome summary:
Slither (2007) is a splatter-horror and dark comedy about a beautiful, hapless schoolteacher Starla Grant (Elizabeth Banks) and her husband, [...]

Film review: Down With Love (2001) & Strictly Ballroom (1992)
Grade: B- & B+
Genre: Romantic comedy
Dear Readers,
It hasn’t been a good week.
A DVD I bought from an online shop for this week’s review – a Cary Grant/Doris Day film – has a scratch, which rendered it unplayable. I went to a local DVD rental shop [...]

Beyond Her Book columnist Barbara Vey from Publishers Weekly reveals her conference schedule for the period between June and November this year. It includes Historical Novel Society in Schaumburg, IL and Romance Writers of America in Washington D.C. She couldn’t make to some conferences. She is sending her “cub reporter and blurber extraordinaire” Joysann instead [...]